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Man o man! Its coming up fast! Not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous but yet I’m excited as well. I’ve been basically preparing for this for a year and I’m only 16 days away from it. Here are my update pictures =)

Also I must say .. I almost hate my cardio as much as I hate my fish but the combo is helping my stomach get flat. SCORE!

These past few weeks have been rough, my diet continues to get harder, I keep getting more and more cardio added on, but …. Ive come to realize that its what I asked for, and will it be hard.. hell yes it will, but it will be worth it =)

Its time to get out of my head even when its screaming at me to stop … my heart is what keeps me going. The only excuse you have is the one you make!

OOOHHHH also I got my jewelry!! and my mom just highlighted my hair so its all coming together quit nicely I think =)

Oh my gosh guys! Sorry life is definitely busier than usual but I’ll try my best to keep it updated! haha.

Between the training, cooking, eating (all I feel like I do is eat btw haha), work and everything else it is all I can do to just come home and not pass out right away …

Now, if you have been following me on instagram, you’ll know that my weight keep fluctuating and this is something I personally find extremely annoying and I know I need to learn not to let it get to me. … with that being said its a good thing I take measurements now and pictures every week because that’s the only way I’m really seeing a difference. But its a good difference! =)

Week 3 (14 weeks out from show.)

Going into week 4 (13 weeks out from show)

hardest part so far? … cardio on those damn stairs.. I tell ya we have a love/hate relationship right now .. and cravings OMG… I just want a PB and J lol….

MY CRAVING CRUSHERS:

Gum – deserts

mints

sparkling water!!! – look for no sugar/sodium/ nothing…

tea

spices

ooh that list looks sad lol.

OH also… I have the best boyfriend ever! we past 4 years on the 4th of july … he got me this!!

So I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking me how to meal prep…. therefore! I’m going to show you how easy it is, the trick is to do it all at once.

Meal Prepping is a great way to stay on track, especially when you are low on time and just want to grab something fast. Our first instinct is to go to fast food or something simple when were in a rush right? … So this way, you’ll already have it made and set to go so therefore your diet and all the hard work you’ve already put in with trying to eat clean and workout doesn’t go down the drain.

So what it basically is, is preparing everything you’re going to eat for either that week or more (depending on how much you cook). I like to do my meal preps about every week or even twice a week depending on what days I have off work. In a nutshell- its cooking in bulk and eating left overs….

First things first though, you’re going to need a good variety of Tupperware.

Then, you may be asking…. “but what do I cook???”

Well pretty much anything that your diet calls for… My meal preps usually consist of these things:

DAIRY- I don’t eat dairy for the most part, it makes me sick… every once in a while Ill have a Quest bar which has Whey protein isolate in it and I seem to do fine. If your going to add dairy, pick these! ( Low fat mozzarella, low fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt (shoot for plain and add your own goodies!), low-fat milk and creamers for coffee and whatnot )

Now that we’ve got the basis of whats pretty much “healthy” and whatnot, how much do you cook? ? ?

Well that all depends on how many days your prepping for. You can do an entire week or a few days. Up to you. Best part of this way of eating (notice I didn’t say diet) is that you DONT STARVE and your constantly eating to rev up that metabolism to ultimately .. lose weight or gain muscle. You ideally want to eat every 3 to 4 hours so that makes about 5-6 meals a day. Now these meals .. since there are more than your average three, are going to be smaller in size, but that’s ok because every 3 hours your going to eat more.

Here is a basic every day meal plan for me currently.

Meal 1: Oats with 1 banana

(this is the time I workout usually)

Meal2: Protein Shake with a piece of fruit

Meal 3: 4oz grilled chicken, 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup mixed veggies

Meal4: 4 oz fish, Big salad with as much veggies as I want. 2 tbsp. oil based dressing (you can add in a complex carb here if you’d like )

Meal5 : 4 oz turkey, 1 cup veggies (add carb if wanted)

M6: Protein Shake

SO in example I really only need to “prep” 3 meals per day. The oats and shakes take like 2 minutes for me to make on the spot … So when prepping keep in mind how much you actually need to make. Now I’m not saying to follow THIS plan, this is just an example .. Do what you want, make it fun, add in some fricken cottage cheese ( man I miss that stuff haha) and make it YOUR meal plan and make the food towards Your Goals!!

So basically cook like your having a party or barbeque haha. Light up the grill and grill up some chicken and turkey burgers, meanwhile while that’s going, cut up salad and veggies and also have either some rice on the stove or a few sweet potatoes in the oven. Its really quite simple, just start cooking and see how it ends up. Use different spices so things don’t always taste the same or seem bland. (I like Mrs Dash a lot because its salt-free yay!)

Put it all in Tupperware and you can even mark what day they are for on the containers if you want. The more organized you are the easier it gets. Preps usually only take me an hour (that’s 4% of my day) .. You have time, just find or make the time =)

Also, get creative, find new recipes and learn to have fun with it =)

HAPPY PREPPING!

ps. I do a lot more “prepping” and what not on my instagram! FOLLOW ME! @amanda_fit_

Crunch on ball- Place butt on ball so that you have balance. Lower yourself down the ball so that the ball is under half of your butt and half of the small of your back. Rise body up and do a basic crunch. 3sets, 15 reps.

Bicycle- Lying on back, bring knees toward chest. Alternate knees towards opposite elbows and tap together. Repeat on other side. Do as many as you can! =)

Mountain Climbers- Place arms shoulder width apart, hold up body and keep but butt down. Bring one knee towards arm and place back down, repeat with other side. Do 8 sets 30seconds per set. 10 second rest.

Straight Leg Raises- (you can either keep your legs together, toes pointed…. or use a ball) Lay down. Place ball between legs and hold with feet and calf muscles. Lift legs up so your legs are at a 90 degree angle and then lower again without the ball touching the ground, but just above it. Do 8 sets for 30 seconds each. Rest 10 seconds in between.

1. Single Straight Leg Stretch – keeping stomach tucked in, head up, alternate your legs as close to your forehead as possible. Quicken the pace that your legs are making a scissoring motion. Do as many as you can for 1 minute. Do 3 sets.

2. Double Straight Leg Stretch- Lying in back, stomach tucked in, slowly lower legs to ground, but not hitting the ground. Once they get close bring them back up creating a crunch in your lower abdomen. Do 3 sets. As many as you can within a minute.

4. V-sit. Holding core tight, lift shoulders and legs off the ground so your balancing on your butt, lift into a V position to create the crunch in your ams. Lower back down, but make sure not to touch the ground. Do as many as you can.

5. Basic crunch – (3 ways) Do 3 sets of each (making that 9 sets) As many as you can!!! Have fuuuun….hee hee

6. Hip Raises- Lying on your back, Lift hips off floor while keeping feet flat on floor. Raise and lower hips in a thrusting motion. (yes this is an awkward workout, but it works!) 3sets. 20 reps

7. Side Leg lifts- Lying on side, feet stalked on top of each other. lift one leg as far as you can, lower it back down but don’t let it touch your other leg when coming back down, do 3 sets. 20-40 on each side.

10. Small Circles – Lying on one side, legs stalked on top of each other. Lift top leg about 1 inch and your going to make a circular motion with the top leg, keeping your leg straight while doing it. Pinch butt cheeks while doing this too.

The Roll up – place yoga ball under thighs so that your basically in a downward plank pose. Keeping hand in same spot, roll body upward using your abs as the main driving force and stop when toes are on the ball. Roll back out and repeat. 3 sets 15 reps.

Side Bent Twist Plank – Doing a side plank, take opposite arm (the on your not resting on) and twist toward other shoulder. Keep abs tight and contact them every twist. 3 sets 11-15 reps. The slower you go the better the workout will be.

Standing Crunches – stand tall, hands can either be behind your head like in the picture or tight at your sides with fists by cheeks and elbows in by the ribs. (almost in a boxing stance) and your going to crunch to the side. alternating sides each move. Make sure your using core as the main force of movement. 3 sets. 20 reps.

Dolphin Toes- kind of like before but without the ball. I want you to do the same thing but arching your back. Hold both positions for 30 seconds. Do as many as you can!

Yoga Boat– Lying down, lift both begs just above the ground to they aren’t touching as well as your neck and head. Using mainly your core, lift body up so that your sitting in a V position and hold for 30 seconds. lower body back down, but go to starting position so that your legs ad neck aren’t hitting the ground. During this whole exercise, the only thing that should be touching the ground is your back. 3 Sets, 15 reps.

Rotating Ball Plank- Keeping shins on yoga ball and arms straight out on floor, using core, twist body to the left and right making sure to keep abs tight and contracted. Do 3 sets. 20 twists on each side (making it 40 twists total per set)

So if you follow me on Facebook or Pinterest… You probably already know this.. But, if you don’t. Here’s what’s going on!

So I love feeling healthy, I love making different concoctions with my food and finding the healthiest foods for my body. I’m kinda weird like that, I’d rather read books like The China Study, Fit2Fat2Fit, and The Eat Clean Diet rather than The Hunger Games … I love all my different fitness magazines and the health/diet section is always where I head straight for when I walk into Barns and Noble.

So … what would be more fun/rewarding/insane and exciting thing to do THAN ENTER MYSELF INTO A BIKINI FITNESS COMPETITION !!!! BAM! hahaha.

So ladies and gents, that’s what I’m up to. So on top of my everyday handy dandy little posts about keeping your metabolism up and awesome, simple recipes, you’ll be going through the journey of preparing for a fitness competition with me for the next 6 months as well. It will be like best of both worlds! One side for the “everyday person who just wants to loose some weight and be healthy”, and then on the other side the “lets tone it up and be lean and amazingly fit” side.

Most of me is SOO READY and excited for this! I cant wait to feel and look amazing, I truly believe this is what I need to give me that drive to push myself to be in the shape I want to be in. Another part of be is sooo nervous and scared as well. haha. Believe me, I’m a honest person, so Ill let you know the ups and downs and everything in between to what goes into it. =) But most of all I’m making a commitment to myself, I’m staying positive and I KNOW I can do this! I look forward on sharing this journey with you guys!

Things to look forward to posting :

My diet, and how its going to change with how my body is changing

supplementation

Workouts, muscle exhaustion

carb loading

protein 101

and much ,much more!!! ( PS if you guys have any questions, comments, or want to know anything I haven’t talked about, ask on my Ask me anything Page!!) link below: